Ford's Fiesta Movement Chapter Two kicks off

March 5, 2010, 4:02 amby Mark Kleis

Ford has officially restarted its social media engine with the launch of its second chapter of the Fiesta Movement. This time around Ford turned to 20 teams of two agents to help manage, direct and inspire product launch advertising in each of 16 major cities across the U.S.

Ford's original Fiesta Movement was a social media campaign that put 100 Euro-spec 2009 Ford Fiestas in the hands of individuals selected for their ability to create buzz in various social media outlets.

Each month the agents were given a task based on the month's assigned theme, and then they created a "mission" video to document their experiences. Ford's major risk with the program was that it made it explicitly clear that all 100 agents were not being censored in any way, allowing them to take issue with the vehicles in their reporting to the public.

Ford provided the 100 agents with a Fiesta and free gas for six months, asked them to create six monthly mission videos and one weekly piece of social media content, and ended up with brand recognition for the Fiesta that topped some of Ford's models that had been on the market for 2-3 years.

Ford's Jim Farley said during a special media presentation that the level of awareness generated by the Fiesta Movement would have cost hundreds of millions with traditional advertising avenues. Ford hasn't disclosed their total Fiesta Movement expenditures, but we would venture to guess it falls short of 1/10th the figure Farley suggested.

Ford brand content and alliances manager, Connie Fontaine, said, "Chapter two will still be rooted in social media, but this time the content will also live offline and find its way into new mediums. Fiesta needs to clearly be the star now as the agents share their work within their communities and beyond."

"Essentially, the agents will be introducing Fiesta to their communities, with local culture driving the content they create," said Fontaine. "There will be unique opportunities for consumers to actively engage and follow along with the agent teams in their area."